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Exploring Scotland By Car
My wife & I recently returned from a wonderful vacation in Scotland. We chose to tour the country like many others, in a rental car. After reading numerous posts online from other travel bloggers, we put together a detailed trip itinerary for our …
🚗 Scotland Road Trip 🚗
There are literally a gazillion posts online with recommendations for; Itineraries, accommodations, attractions and much more.
So instead of adding yet another, I thought I would put together a few helpful travel tips and suggestions that might be of help to you.
Just a few things we discovered and a few of our favorite attractions and other interesting sites, along the way. We arrived in Scotland at the end of August and began our road trip 4 days after.
After all, my blog is called … Gr8 Travel Tips!
Choosing A Rental Car For Your Scotland Road Trip
Most visitors ✈ flying to Scotland, will be arriving into the City of Edinburgh.
There are numerous ways to get from the airport quickly and affordably. You have the choice of an; express airport bus, Lothian city bus service, and/or convenient Edinburgh Tram system.
Of course, taxis and private transfer services are always readily available, at much higher costs.
Tip #1 – Hold Off On Your Car Rental
One excellent bit of advice I got from another blogger before leaving home was;
If you plan to spend a few days in Edinburgh first as we did, don’t rent a car, until you’re ready to head off on your road trip.
We spent 4 nights in the city upon our arrival and were really happy we waited, to rent our car, before beginning our road trip. We also saved four days of daily rental cost on our car. Getting around Edinburgh by city bus and/or tram is easy and very cheap.
We traveled all around the city during our four days on the bus. You can download the Lothian app and plan all your trips quickly and easily!
When you’re ready to pick up your car, take the bus or tram right to the; Edinburgh Rental Car Center, located just steps away from the main terminal.
Things We Enjoyed Best In Edinburgh
✔ The Royal Yacht Britannia;
Victoria Street – Edinburgh’s oldest street;
Leith Walkway and Park;
University Grounds & Park;
Edinburgh Eat Walk Guided Tour;
Canton Hill – climb for the most stunning views of Edinburgh.
Tip #2 – Choose Your Rental Car Wisely
Unless you’re prepared to wait in line at the rental car center, or are a gold service member, {we waited 2 hours}, think twice about renting from Hertz.
Yes, they are the cheapest we found of all rental car companies at the airport, but the lines can be outrageous!
If you’re not prepared to spend a lengthy wait in line, then I suggest, pay a little extra and choose another company. Had I known, I certainly would have. None of the other kiosks had lines. 🙁
Starting Your Personalized Scotland Road Trip
Depending on the amount of time you have for your road, what you’re interested in seeing and doing, is entirely up to you.
We set aside {13 nights} for our road trip, after our 4 days spent in the City of Edinburgh.
Tip #3 – Purchase An eSIM Data Plan
This was our very first time trying out an {eSIM data plan} for our cell phone, and it worked out great!
Having data available while out and about, and especially while driving, was superb. My wife could bring up Google Maps for; gas stations, grocery stores, attractions and more, while on our daily route.
We chose a {30 day 3 GB} plan for our trip, and it was more than enough. At our chosen accommodations each night, they all included; free wi-fi. You can check my detailed review on the eSIM package we chose at …
Selecting The Right eSIM For Travel {A Helpful Guide}
This plan also includes an international phone # for your use. A nice feature to have, in the event of a; car break down, flat tire, accident, or other necessity, where a phone call has to be made.
This, without having to rely on your home carrier and added roaming and call charges.
Tip #4 – Choose A Travel Planning App
One other App that came highly recommended, even from one of the UK’s top travel advisors, was to download a; travel planning application. This was another first time for us, using such an app and again, it was excellent!
Well before our vacation and at home, I put together a detailed road trip itinerary, including: Google map routes, accommodations, attractions and much more.
Even while on our road trip, we could enter items of interest along the way, at any time. Without going into greater detail, check out my post and full review below …
Wanderlog – Worldwide Travel Planning App
Many of the more popular sites and attractions in Scotland, have pay parking. We found this a little disappointing, as you’re already paying entrance fees.
Even at a number of road side parking lots, you’ll find pay parking machines set up. We never did see anyone monitoring the lots, so just be forewarned, use at your own discretion.
I do recommend however, to carry change with you, for the ones in the more popular attractions. This will prevent you from using your credit card, should you be charged a fee for using your card abroad.
We had a small pocket change purse, that came in very handy. The UK has all kinds of different coins, that can be very confusing at times. 🙂
Scotland Road Trip Driving Tips
Tip #5 – Driving On The Left In Scotland
If you’re from North America, get ready to drive on the left side of the road. As well, cheaper priced rental cars have standard transmissions. If you want automatic, be prepared to pay twice as much or more.
If you haven’t been trained in operating a standard transmission, you might want to get a few lessons in beforehand, if wanting the best price. Most driver training outlets do offer some simple training in this form of driving.
After a day of driving, it really becomes second nature. Just remember to always stay to the left. Both driving in the left lane, and when making turns. 🙂
There are tons of roundabouts, which I think are great!
They not only are safer, but also keep the traffic moving. Scotland’s roundabouts are excellent, with helpful direction signs before the roundabout. Also, your GPS will guide you to your right exit.
Cars parked everywhere, blocking driving lanes and facing any direction.
This seems to be the norm, everywhere in Scotland. Cars will park wherever they choose and it doesn’t matter if they block the entire driving lane. You simply have to stop, and wait for traffic to clear.
Interesting!
Narrow roads and bridges out of the city.
Be ready for narrow roads, sharp edges and bridges on all routes. You will encounter many roads that are only wide enough for one vehicle. There are pull outs and most are marked.
You have to make sure you look well ahead, and use courtesy for others approaching. After a bit, you will get used to yielding to others or visa versa.
No Sightseeing For The Driver
As a retired professional driver, I can certainly agree on this. As the driver and especially if new to left hand driving, there’s very little opportunity, to take your eyes off the road and do some sightseeing.
You have to always pay attention to the; road, signs and other vehicles. Many roads in the country are very windy, have sharp turns and with little, to no advance ⚠ warning.
We saw one major crash, that looked like someone had quickly turned into a; sightseeing pullout without looking and struck another vehicle. 🙁
Gas Stations & Grocery Stores
We had no problem locating ⛽ gas stations most everywhere. We always topped up the gas tank in larger towns and cities. Prices were generally the same in these locations, throughout the country.
Try to avoid filling up in small villages or in the countryside. Prices do increase a fair bit, as is the case most anywhere you travel to.
Tesco grocery stores and Express Marts are everywhere in larger areas. Small villages will usually have a typical small corner grocery for locals.
We found shopping at Tesco or similar grocery stores to be excellent. What we really liked was being able to buy; packaged sandwiches, salads, fruit, bakery items, beer, cider and more.
We found their packaged sandwiches to be excellent! Freshly made and large portions. Unlike anything you would find back home at our grocery stores, and very reasonably priced as well.
We would usually buy what we needed for the next day’s drive and also for; Happy Hour in the evening, at our chosen accommodation. 🙂
We would find a nice; beach, park or sightseeing pull out, sit in the car and, enjoy our lunch. So much nicer, and a very affordable way to eat as well.
Restaurants can be very expensive, especially when you’re converting; Canadian and/or American dollars, to the British Pound.
Tip #5 – Choosing Affordable Accommodations
We stayed in a total of 12 different accommodations during our vacation. Mostly; Airbnb’s a couple of small hotel’s and one major airport hotel in Edinburgh, before our flight home.
All our rooms, with the exception of one, were excellent!
One standout Airbnb accommodation and the best we’ve ever stayed in over the years, was in the town of; Broadford. We stayed for 2 nights, using it as our base, for visiting the Isle of Skye.
The room was absolutely lovely and our host went out of her way, with the variety of; breakfast amenities and snacks for her guests. Fresh smoothies were even prepared each morning, waiting in our guest room fridge.
We chose to leave Edinburgh and travel ⏰ counterclockwise, around Scotland. Our first night we spent in Fife, just a couple of minutes from St. Andrew’s.
For the month of September, we really lucked out with the weather. We had beautiful warm sunny days in Edinburgh, and when visiting many attractions and beaches, the sun surprisingly, always appeared!
It was just the last 2 days that Scotland’s weather showed itself, with wind and rain. The weather changes almost hourly, so come prepared!
A few notable highlights of our Scotland road trip:
Eat Walk Edinburgh Food Tour;
The Royal Yacht Britannia;
Enjoying the coastline, beaches and the many historic ruins;
West Sands Beach – St. Andrew’s;
Dunnottar Castle – Stonehaven;
Slains Castle Ruins – Aberdeenshire;
Inverness – walking along the banks of the River Ness;
Small Boat Tour Of Loch Ness with: Loch Ness Cruises;
Dunrobin Castle & Gardens;
The Castle & Gardens of Mey – Caithness {Queen Mother’s Castle};
Balnakeil Beach – Lairg {beautiful long white sand beach};
Ullapool Town & Seafront;
Seafood Shack – Ullapool;
Loch Broom – Scenic;
Gairloch Beach – Gairloch.
The Falls of Measach;
Portree & Isle of Skye Coastal Scenery.
Scotland is a beautiful country to visit. We’re glad we finally had the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately even in September, we found it to be; Way Over Touristed.
There was simply nowhere to go, to escape the massive amount of tourists this country experiences. Having said that, we still enjoyed traveling to and our vacation in Scotland.
If you enjoy history, beautiful quaint villages and awesome coastal scenery, then Scotland is just your ticket!
Below, I’ve listed the Official Scotland Tourism website. It’s filled with loads of information for planning your; Scotland Road Trip adventure!
🔆 Check out the {Google Map} box at the bottom of this post for Scotland’s exact location.
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✨ Did You Know …
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